The full game can be seen at M3 but here I want to concentrate on the opening.
Caro-Kann Tartakower
The game began 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6!?
There is an argument for White playing 5.Ng3!?, if only to spoil Black's preparation, and indeed Anatoly Karpov is among those who have played so.
But 5.Nxf6+ is overwhelmingly more popular, and in this game Black replied with 5...exf6!?
Joe Gallagher in Starting Out: The Caro-Kann (Everyman Chess, 2002), writes: "Variations [like this] where Black accepts a disadvantage and just tries to hang on for the draw are not very popular nowadays. That is, perhaps, a slightly harsh but basically true assessment of the Tartakower Variation."
I think it is fair to say opinions have changed somewhat over the intervening years, perhaps helped by the fact Magnus Carlsen has played the text, and by the fact it is preferred by analysis engines such as Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 over the arguably more-combative 5...gxf6.
These days recapturing with the e pawn is looked as a way to accelerate Black's development.
As Gallagher points out, it guarantees Black easy development and avoids a cramped position. The downside is endgames are likely to be problematic because Black's pawn majority is compromised.
I played 6.c3, which looks slow but is easily the most-popular continuation. The idea is usually to follow up with Bd3, which can also be played on move six as a gambit, ie 6.Bd3!? Qxd4 7.Nf3, giving Black full compensation, but no more, for the pawn, according to the engines.
Black naturally develops the dark-square bishop by 6...Bd6 and is ready to castle kingside.
After 7.Bd3 0-0 Black has a slight lead in development and hopes of attacking chances.
Points behind 8.Ne2 include preventing ...Re8 coming with check, avoiding the pin ...Bg4 and preparing to challenge the active Black bishop with Bf4.
After 8...Re8 the most-popular move in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database is 9.Qc2, forcing Black to deal with the threat of Bxh7+ and keeping open the option of queenside castling. Black usually replies 9...h5
Rather than 9.Qc2 I preferred 9.0-0, which has been Carlsen's choice.
Gallagher recommends 9...Nd7, calling 9...Qc7, which stops 10.Bf4 and threatens 10...Bxh2+, dubious.
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| How should White respond to Black's "dubious" ninth move? |
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10.g3!?
10.g3!?
This move, which at least for a while is Komodo13.02's second choice, weakens the white king's position but reintroduces the threat of Bf4.
Komodo13.02's top choice is 10.h3, which avoids losing the h pawn, but makes it a target for the black g pawn and possibly for the black light-square bishop.
Stockfish15 likes 10.Ng3!?, which seems to have first been played by grandmaster Robert Byrne in 1979 and is easily the most popular continuation in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database.
Ng3 looks strange at first in that it gives only temporary protection to h2, but White's plan is to sacrifice the h pawn in return for a strong kingside attack.
Black's commonest reply is 10...Nd7, but then 11.Nf5!?, played by international master Markus Löffler in 2000, causes Black major problems. Löffler (2415) - Nedelcho Dichev (2203), Cannes 2000, continued 11...Bxh2+ 12.Kh1 Bd6, and now Stockfish15 gives 13.Bh6!? g6 14.Ng7!? Re7 15.Qf3, claiming a large advantage for White, although Komodo13.02 reckons the position is equal.
Black does not have to take the gambited pawn, and subsequent games have largely seen 11...Nf8!?, but 12.Nxd6 gives White the bishop-pair to go along with having the better pawn structure.
Instead of 10...Nd7, Lukas Cernousek (2466) - Jorden van Foreest (2610), Teplice (Czechia) 2019, featured 10...Be6, but after 11.f4 Kh8 (the engines reckon Black should give up a pawn with 11...f4!?) 12.f5 White had a positionally won game, according to Stockfish15 (Komodo13.02 is slightly less effusive), and indeed in the game Black was fairly quickly getting mated (1-0, 28 moves).
The only other move to attract much attention after 10.Ng3!? is 10...g6, but 11.Ne4 Be7 gives White a good game after both 12.Bc4 and 12.Re1, according to the engines.
From a theoretical view, then, the key move in the diagrammed position seems to be 10.Ng3!?
Black should probably reply 10...Nd7, at which point the position is unclear - certainly the engines do not agree on either their assessment of the chances or on how to proceed - but likely favours White.
The player who better prepares for the resulting complications should be at a large advantage.
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